Travel Guide

Men

Shorts are not acceptable in public places. Wearing ties or bows is not a problem. T-shirts are acceptable.

Women

Obeying Islamic rules including Hijab or Islamic dress-code is necessary in Iran. However these rules are not observed very strict, especially for tourists and foreigners. You must not worry about maintaining your hijab , since in times you have forgotten about it, the maximum penalty will be a request (usually in a kind way) to make it correct. There are some minimum requirements for foreign women dress-code in public places:

• Color: It’s a completely false belief that wearing must be dark in Iran. There is no limitation in this respect and we recommend you make sure using light colors in summer.
• Head: Hair should be covered. It does not mean you shall have a tight scarf around your head. Don’t worry; it is very usual that some parts remain out of the cover. It’s quite acceptable for women to allow whips of their hair to frame their face. Appropriate hats & caps can do this function as well as scarves. Scarf is the most common covering for head and is called “Roosari” in Farsi.
• Body: Should be covered with loose clothes like man shirt, coat or manteau. Arms should not be bare.
• Legs & Feet: Legs should be covered down to ankles. Feet can be bare and you can wear sandals. Tight jeans are no problem.

Iranian currency is Iranian Rial. There is another money unit in Iran which is called Toman and is equivalent to 10 Rials. Toman is more common in oral quotes, while Rial is the official unit and used in most verbal documents. Price etiquettes may come either in Rial or Toman and usually are understood by the buyers. In case of doubt, check it with the seller.

For exchanging money, you can refer to the “EXCHANGE” offices. These shops are called “SARRAFI” in Farsi which is the equivalent word for exchange. There are also street exchangers in tourist areas who usually hold a bunch of banknotes and show them to people who are passing and shout Dollars, Pounds, Euros. This way of exchange is not legal and is not recommended. You can exchange USD, EUR, GBP, AED almost everywhere, but other major currencies can be exchanged in certain bank branches. Foreign credit cards are not acceptable in Iran. There are many ATMs everywhere in Iran, but they only accept the domestic cards and are currently useless to foreigners. Considering the above matters, it is recommendable to bring money in cash in form of USD, EUR or GBP. Using a money-belt is proposed.